


The Yeast of Our Problems

by babbyspanch



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Great British Bake Off AU, M/M, Reality Show AU, i cant believe this happened oh my god, i will be adding more relationship tags and character tags when i finish
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-02-14
Updated: 2016-02-14
Packaged: 2018-05-20 14:59:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,059
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6012991
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/babbyspanch/pseuds/babbyspanch
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Written for the haikyuu valentine exchange on tumblr!!</p>
<p>Hinata, Kageyama, and Yamaguchi have made it to the finale of the nation wide hit TV show, The Great British Bake Off. But there's more on their minds than constructing the perfect gingerbread structure or three layer wedding cake. Emotions are sticky, troublesome, and anxiety inducing but really, really good for ratings.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Yeast of Our Problems

**Author's Note:**

> I've been wanting to write this au for AGES!! I was so excited to be able to fit it into the prompt and i way over planned the whole thing. If i end up not being able to resist I might need to write the whole season. Happy Valentines day!!

 

“If you had told me last year that I would be in the finale of the Great British Bake Off… Well. I wouldn’t have been surprised. I’ve been baking since I was three. It fits.” Kageyama shrugged at the end of his answer as he shifted in his uncomfortable chair. He hated the interview sessions for many reasons-- the personal questions, the not knowing what audio an unseen editing team would cut together, answering questions about himself… But by far the worst part was just not being able to stop talking. The director kept asking for more and whoever was interviewing always gestured for him to keep talking and, in short, it was Kageyama’s worst nightmare. Well. One of them.

“Is there anything you _would_  have been surprised to hear about your experience?” Every session it was a different person feeding him the questions, but over the length of the ten weeks they’d been all filming together, Kageyama had learned most of their names. The man talking to him now was named Suga. He was one of the few camera men who was kind and understanding about Kageyama’s aversion to being filmed, which made his job pretty difficult. The man didn’t seem to mind.

Unbidden, a huge grin flashed in his mind’s eye, bright and thrilling and so full of joy Kageyama’s breath caught.

“The… The people I’ve met.” Kageyama glanced down, “I’ve made… Friends here. If you’d told me about them or about H--Well. That I would have doubted.”

Suga made a comforting sound and reached for his knee before he aborted the action halfway. Instead he changed the topic, “What are your plans for the signature bake?”

Kageyama straightened up, for baking was something he could talk about regardless of his emotional state. “I’m making a recreation of my parents backyard wedding ceremony.”

“That’s impressive! Out of gingerbread and everything?”

Kageyama nodded and rubbed the back of his neck, “Mostly gingerbread biscuit, yes. They had a winter wedding so I’ll be making my own marshmallow to cover the base. And my two figures will be made out of ginger cake that I’ll carve and ice.”

Kageyama had practised that bit a few times and his parents heads had always fallen off. He had devised an untested plan to put a cut down kebab stick down the center and hope it didn’t act as some sort of voodoo doll. His mom already had enough back pain as it was.

“What inspired you to recreate your parents wedding?” The huge lights were getting uncomfortably warm on Kageyama’s skin. He could feel sweat beading on his forehead. He just wanted to get inside the huge white tent and start baking.

“Ah well… I was looking into the history of gingerbread.” Suga nodded encouragingly, flashing a thumbs up. That meant they'd probably use this for a show segment. Kageyama immediately got stiffer. “In medieval times ginger was a very rare and expensive spice so… So it cost a lot of money. It, uh, traditionally it was given to a ladies favourite knight or, or visa versa. It was a declaration of care, if not a sign of commencing a courting.”

“And that reminded you of your parents?”

Kageyama nodded, the motion more of a jerk with an affirmative grunt attached. “They, uh. They really love each other. Dad sometimes calls mom _hime_. Which is… It's Japanese for princess.”

“That sounds really amazing, Kageyama. I'm sure you'll do great.” Suga's smile had a comforting edge to it. Kageyama felt the muscles in his back ease just a little.

“Thank you, Suga.” Kageyama stood and inclined his head.

“No problem. Hey could you do me a favour and grab Hinata? He's next up.”

 

***

Hinata shuffled his flour and sugar jars to the side as he waited for Kageyama to come back inside the tent after his interview. The other finale contestant, Yamaguchi Tadashi, had already had his so now it was just Hinata’s they here waiting on.

Hinata loved the interview sessions. It reminded him he was being watched, his every success being seen by the eyes of the nation!

The eyes of a _nation._

That was a lot of eyes.

Hinata felt his stomach flop and gurgle.

Not in the _finale_ too! Could he really not go one episode without throwing up before the interview?

Kageyama walked back into the tent with a small, yet noticeable smile on his face.

Hinata’s stomach lurched again.

Kageyama looked up and met his eyes. For a moment, Hinata was terrified that smile would crumble from his lips like over-baked cake, but it stayed. It may have even grown a fraction of an inch.

This was _not_ good for his gut. Kageyama was the _worst_ thing for his stomach.

“Suga’s ready for you.”

Hinata stopped rearranging his space for the sixth time and took a breath. He smiled at Kageyama and smoothed out his apron. “Sounds good.”

“Are you going to throw up again?” Kageyama asked, a glint in his eyes. He was teasing Hinata. Strangely, that was exactly what he needed to relax. A more indignant expression overtook Hinata’s own face.

“I _won’t_!” Kageyama snickered, sceptical. Hinata slammed his hands on his hips, “Let's make a bet then!”

Kageyama raised his eyebrows. Yamaguchi, groaned and rolled his eyes as he plopped his final ingredients on his counter.

“Can you two not even give it a rest on the second last day of shooting?” Yamaguchi asked.

“Listen, Yamaguchi, the viewers find them, for some reason, quite charming.” Daichi, the director, had walked in with nobody noticing. “Some final hijinks would be good for the show. But how many times do I have to tell you two to save it for the cameras?”

Hinata laughed, “Fine!” He turned to Kageyama and pointed at him, determined. “This isn't over. We can bet on something else later.”

Kageyama shrugged, trying to look unbothered, but at this stage Hinata easily recognized the competitive gleam in Kageyama’s eyes.

Daichi shooed Hinata out of the tent and into Suga's unimpressed look.

“You certainly took your time, hm? I asked Kageyama to send you out fifteen minutes ago.”

Hinata laughed and plonked down on the provided chair with a grin. “Sorry Suga, I got caught up organizing my station.”

They both let the blatant lie linger for a second, bird chirping in the lush field, a pair of sheep grazing nearby. Suga huffed and fiddled with the camera  before launching into his questions.

“So Hinata you’ve been baking for…?”

“I’ve been baking for three years!”

“Only three years?” Suga couldn’t keep the surprise out of his voice. “What made you want to start?”

“I really like playing with flavours! I had a really weird craving for something very floral but sweet and my mom bakes so I decided-- hey, why not give it a whirl? I have all the ingredients! I made lavender and white chocolate macaroons and they tasted really nice.”

“The first thing you _ever_ baked was macaroons?”

“Yup! Then the next day I a ginger cake with candied orange, vanilla and cardamom. Than the next day I wanted to see if I could make a nectarine and rosemary tart… It was fun.” Hinata shrugged and smiled lopsidedly.

“That would explain all your adventurous flavour combinations that have been put to the test here every week.” Suga remarked, laughing quietly, “What will you be sharing with us this week in your gingerbread structure?”

Hinata grinned, “I’m going really out there. It’s the finale so I figured, why not?”

Suga raised his eyebrows.

“I’m making a savoury gingerbread, with ginger, lemon zest and curry and a crisp ginger biscuit with thyme, ginger and parmesan.”

Suga grinned, “I cannot wait to try it. Your flavours never disappoint, Hinata. I’m sure everyone else agrees!”

“Well my friends sure don’t,” Hinata laughed, trying his best to play it all off but in his lap his hands twisted together, sweating in the summer sun, “I’ve never been able to convince them to try anything I’ve made!”

Suga picked up on his body language, of course-- it was _Suga_. Gently, he smiled and patted Hinata’s knee, “Well everyone here enjoys them. Kageyama is at your bench as soon as the judging is over.”

Hinata laughed again, less weak, “He’s just checking out the competition.” He said dismissively, but he felt a smile sneak across his face and he looked down at his hands to avoid Suga’s eyes. “He always has some sort of criticism ready.”

The birds chirped some more and Hinata fidgeted, looking up, “So are you done with me?”

Suga laughed, “One more question Mr. Eager-to-Escape.”

Hinata flopped back in his chair with a groan.

“What’s your actual structure going to look like?”

“Oh!” Hinata grinned, “It’s going to be a volleyball court! With bleachers on the side! I used to play volleyball a lot but I stopped in high school. But I was almost more passionate about it than I am about baking now!”

Suga nodded and checked the footage, double checking the lighting and the angles before flashing Hinata a thumb’s up. “Good luck today!”

Hinata grinned and saluted before scurrying back into the tent, nausea gone. He was ready to bake.

 

***

            About half an hour into the two hour challenge Kageyama turned around and locked eyes with Hinata. Hinata raised his eyebrows and closed his oven, biscuits already inside.

Kageyama cleared his throat and fiddled with the piping bag in his hands.

“You know if you actually said the words you’re trying to I’d be able to prep my parmesan a lot faster.” Hinata told him, grabbing the brick of cheese anyway.

“I… I didn’t test the marshmallow recipe I’m using--”

“Kageyama _seriously_? It’s the _finale_.”

Kageyama frowned and twisted the plastic bag tighter, “Thanks, Hinata. I’m actually _aware_ of that, which is why I'm asking for your help.”

Hinata leaned back, surprised. Kageyama asking for help happened rarely in the last ten weeks. At first he had barely even _spoken_ to anyone, let alone ask for their input. They only time anything even close to that had happened was when they had their first real conversation.

It had been bread week, and everyone appeared to be losing their minds.

The signature bake had gone well enough until the judging, where Takeda revealed that he was a bread _expert_ and could tell just by pushing on the dough if it had been over proved and glancing at the crust to determine if any of the seven remaining contestants had over baked.

Now they were doing the final bake,the show stopper, and everyone was freaking out.

No one was saying a word and it made Hinata nervous. Normally conversation flowed freely in the tent, after three weeks the remaining ten had become close. But their was no such thing as a friendship strong enough to withstand the stress of a critical glance at a proving drawer by an analytical judge.

Hinata was just shutting the oven when a yell exploded from behind him. Hinata whipped around, crouched low and ready to run. Kageyama was staring at his oven which had a plume of white smoke rising from it.

“Kageyama what _happened_!” Hinata yelped, running for him.

“I… I was just trying to… form a steam crust… I just poured in the water like at home...” Hinata kneeled down and waved the smoke away, trying to look inside the oven.

“Is your bread still in there?” Suga was suddenly at their side, a pair of oven mitts already on. “Where’s the pan you poured the water in?”

“Uh… I…Pan? Why would I need a pan?”

“Kageyama did you just pour the water in the base? These are electric ovens!” Hinata yelped, peering deeper into the oven through all the thick white steam, “I see it in there!” Hinata moved out of the way as the rest of the tent started to understand what was going on and gather around the disaster area. Hinata glanced at the expression on Kageyama’s face as Suga extracted his loaf and knew he had to help. He met Kiyoko’s eyes and she nodded quickly, understanding instinctively Hinata was asking her to clear the area. She did so deftly with a few soft spoken words and guiding hands that calmed everyone down and got them back on task.

Kageyama was staring mournfully at his bread when Hinata turned back to him. “Is it okay?” He asked quietly, debating before reaching out and placing a hand on Kageyama’s arm. He looked like he could use the comfort. It may have been the wrong choice, Hinata realized as Kageyama stared at his hand. Hinata drew it back slowly.

“It’s still raw inside. And the crust is a mess. I can’t salvage it.”

Hinata hadn’t interacted with Kageyama except for on the afternoon of the second day after the judging on the technical finished. Hinata had come in second after him and he thought there was no possible way his rum babas had risen or saturated with alcohol more evenly and he had stormed over and taken a bite. They had been perfect.

Kageyama had given him a smug look and Hinata had glared, angry and embarrassed to be wrong in front of so many people. Hinata made a point to not speak to him until now but… Something urged him to do the idiotic.

“You can share my oven.” Kageyama's eyes jumped up to meet Hinata’s, shocked enough for his mouth to hang just the slightest bit open. “I have a really short bake time anyway, and we can change it to the the temperature you need when mines done.”

“You… You don’t even know me.” Kageyama still sounded mystified.

Hinata shrugged. “I know that you’re too good a baker to go home over something like this.”

And then Kageyama had smiled. Hinata’s breath caught in his throat. He had seen the man force several smiles over the last three weeks but this one… This one was small and genuine and it made his heart stop for a moment.

Hinata clapped his hands and stood, “Okay, let’s get your bread baking.”

Kageyama stood too and carefully picked up his raw bread dough following behind Hinata. Hinata felt eyes on them and glanced around meeting Suga’s gaze who then winked and turned away. Hinata shook his head and settled into his stool as Kageyama kneeled to slide his bread in carefully beside Hinatas.

“So how long have you been baking?”

They talked together for the entire length of their baking time, learning about each other and building a slow respect. From that week on they silently made sure that they picked benches close together.

Hinata shook his head free of the memories and met Kageyama's annoyed expression head on.

“So what you want me to try your marshmallow?”

Kageyama’s glared intensified, “I was just asking. I can do it myself.”

Hinata rolled his eyes and reached out for the piping tube, “Well give it here then.”

For a twenty-six year old, Kageyama had an impressive pout.

“Oh come on, Kageyama.” Hinata leaned over his counter and made a grab for it, “I wasn’t making fun of you or anything!”

Kageyama moved the icing tube out of the way,but not before Hinata got a firm grip on it, reflexively squeezing when it slipped out of his grasp.

Marshmallow shot up straight into the air, landing with a soft _plop_ on Kageyama's shoulder.

Hinata froze, staring blankly at the sticky fluff that began to seep the sleeve of Kageyama’s shirt. “Uh…” Slowly, Hinata raised his eyes to look at Kageyama’s face. “Sorry, Kageyama I didn’t mean--”

He was cut off first by the unexpected emotion in Kageyama’s dark eyes, which were bright with something like… Something like _joy_. Hinata opened his mouth, grin already in place when he was cut off a second time by a spurt of marshmallow in his face.

Hinata couldn’t hold back a startled yelp before reaching for his excess batter with plans of revenge building in him, “Oh you are going to _pay_ for that one, Kageyama!”

Hinata lunged over the counter space, batter slathered spatula ready in his hands and laughter filling the air between them. He brought it down with a wet slap on the top of Kageyama’s head. Kageyama lunged at him without a breath of hesitation, terrifying smile on his face as he reached for his buttercream icing with one hand and tried to wrestle Hinata with the other.

Someone cleared their throat behind them and they stiffened simultaneously. Slowly they turned their heads and met Daichi’s disapproving look over their tangled and messy arms.

“There’s only about an hour and ten minutes left in the challenge. Is this the best use of your time?”

“No, sir.” They said.

“Too right.” Daichi confirmed, his arms crossed and feet a shoulder width apart. The aura of disapproval soaked into the room and Hinata struggled to untangle himself from Kageyama who was not being helpful about it at all.

That was until he saw the camera pointed at them.

Kageyama promptly untangled them and straightened, hesitating and shooting the cameras one last look before brushing some icing off of Hinata’s face. His fingers lingered on Hinata’s cheek for a moment and a wave of warmth washed over Hinata’s body, tingling as it went. He couldn’t help the lopsided smile that bloomed across his face as his eyes remained locked with Kageyama’s. The left side of Kageyama’s mouth quirked up before he stepped back, picking up his now mangled piping bag of marshmallow. He sighed and started washing out the bowl that still had fluff clinging to it.

“Sorry, Kageyama. Do you want help making more..?” Hinata fidgeted, waiting for a reply. It was a short wait.

“No. Go prep your decorations.” Hinata knew he wouldn’t get any farther with Kageyama when he got embarrassed like this so he nodded, pressing his hand to Kageyama’s shoulder briefly before walking back to his work station. He pointedly ignored the camera’s panning to follow him. He was glad he was close enough to Kageyama to be able to tell the difference between him being angry or just being flustered. It had taken a lot of trial and error to reach that place.

The rest of the bake was uneventful, Yamaguchi muttered through the whole thing as was usual for the first bake of the weekend. He was always stressed and flighty and would spill at least one cup of flour before the judging started. By the end of the weekend, though, he’d be humming a cheery tune, whisk in hand and cares very minimal. Hinata was a little jealous of that. His anxiety never settled over the weekend, each new day brought with it new stress.

But suddenly the time was up and Hinata had somehow managed to assemble his entire volleyball court, stands and all, and it was sitting on the edge of his bench ready for judging. Hinata was grateful for the number of times he had practised. Admittedly he had practised the upcoming showstopper more thoroughly, but a three-tiered wedding cake tended to need more practise than gingerbread.

Takeda and Ukai stepped into the tent heading directly for Yamaguchi’s station. Hinata twisted his fingers in his apron. Going first took a little of the pressure off.

Yamaguchi had made a scale model of the Millennium Falcon, delicate panelling and sonar dish included. Only it was also crashing into a base of ginger cake, debris scattered left and right and spun sugar making a cloud of dust rising from the point of impact.

It looked incredibly impressive, but it was all down to how Ukai and Takeda thought it tasted.

Everyone winced in unison as Ukai hacked off one of the prongs rather viciously and made some flippant comment about always liking Star Trek better before snapping it in half and giving the larger part to Takeda. They both took bites and the tent held their breath as thoughtful looks crossed the judges faces.

“I’m impressed with the snap of it-- the biscuit is the perfect texture.” Takeda smiled at Yamaguchi, who started glowing.

“I’m _not_ impressed by the flavour.” Ukai said, flatly. “The structure is ambitious, and you’ve shown very talented sugar work with the windows and spun sugar, but you didn’t add anything to your flavour combination. We both know you can be more creative than that.”

Yamaguchi seemed to shrink a little at the critique. Takeda patted his arm quickly, “But the ginger comes through beautifully! Let’s try a slice of this cake then, shall we?”

Ukai sliced into the dense loaf and Hinata could tell from where he stood several feet away that the cake would be moist and heavy with flavour.

“I see you’ve added candied ginger, and it’s distributed very evenly.” Ukai gestured with his fork before taking a bite. He chewed slowly, a thoughtful look crossing his face, “I was worried the ginger on ginger would be too much, but you’ve pulled back the ginger in the actual cake to compensate, is that correct?”

Yamaguchi nodded quickly, a small smile slipping onto his face, “Yeah, I experimented with the ratios a lot to try and get it right.”

“Well it’s very well done.” Tadekda nodded his agreement and Yamaguchi let his shoulders relax.

And then they were standing in front of Hinata, expectant and awaiting the summary on his bake.

“Uh!” Hinata jumped a little and coughed quickly, “Hi!”

Takeda smiled, “Hello, Hinata. What do you have to show us today?”

“I made a savory volleyball court! With stands and boundary lines and everything!”

Ukai nodded with approval and Hinata beamed, “The stands show a lot of talent and that your biscuits are crisp if they can hold that weight.”

It felt like it took them an age to finish critiquing him and he breathed a sigh of relief as they turned from him to take in Kageyama’s display.

It was beautiful. He had piped the batter for the trellis two figures stood under so it formed delicate and deliberate swirls that reached up and balanced a perfect heart shaped biscuit. Carefully constructed chairs lined the aisle, marshmallow surrounding the whole scene.

“I’m a little disappointed with the design,Kageyama.” Hinata looked up, shocked at Takeda’s statement. Normally if either of the judges were blunt with their opinions it was Ukai, but the shorter man’s eyes were serious behind his glasses. “We know you have a talent for building large structures, you have a good eye for supports and where things would have a tendency to break. Here you’ve made several small finicky parts but nothing to show us the talent we know you have. It would have been wonderful to see it reflected in such a relevant challenge.”

Hinata has seen the templates that Kageyama made for the chairs and how the man had stressed over the smallest angles. How he trimmed each side in order to make the whole thing fit together seamlessly.

“I disagree.” For a moment, Hinata was terrified it was him who spoke, but when both Takeda and Kageyama turned to Ukai with surprise on their faces Hinata pieced together the truth. “I think this shows tremendous skill and attention to detail. Why should Kageyama show us something he already knows we know he knows how to do?”

Hinata blinked, having trouble with the sentence for long enough that the judges had finished their review and were leaving the tent when he sorted it out. He looked up and locked eyes with Kageyama who was holding something out to him. Hinata glanced down and couldn’t hold in a grin. It was tradition for the two of them to try each others bakes after the judging was done, but Kageyama normally pretended to hate it, faking his begrudging expression and pretending his eyes didn’t light up everytime he tried Hinata’s creations.

But now, during the finale, here he was holding out the heart-shaped top of the trellis that he had worked so hard on so that Hinata could try it.

Hinata felt a warmth in his chest that had nothing to do with all the curry powder and ginger he had been baking with as he took the gingerbread heart and watch Kageyama smile.

 


End file.
